Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to set the nation on a fresh course in his inaugural Labour conference speech as party leader and Prime Minister, announcing plans for water nationalisation and greater public control over housing and energy.
Speaking to delegates in Liverpool, Mr Burnham declared he was prepared to “break the mould” to end the stagnation and division that has defined British politics for a generation. The proposals included plans to reverse Margaret Thatcher's 1980s prohibition on public ownership of water companies, opening the door to the nationalisation of firms that fail to “serve the public interest”.
Council powers over homes
Mr Burnham also announced that councils would be granted the authority to take over poorly maintained homes where landlords refuse to make improvements.
He said: “This country isn't where any of us would want it to be. Politics-as-usual has taken Britain backwards. More of the same isn't good enough. That's why I feel I have to break the mould today.”
Criticism of post-1980s path
Mr Burnham, who succeeded Sir Keir Starmer in Downing Street in July, argued there was a “sense of the powers-that-be pulling against the people, not with them”. “If there's one thing I want to put right, it's that,” he added.
Turning his fire on the changes ushered in since the Thatcher era, Mr Burnham said: “Britain has been on the wrong path for a long time. Deindustrialisation. Deregulation. Privatisation. Austerity. Brexit. And what has it given us? A country run for vested interests, not in the public interest.”
Comparison to 1945
He likened his mission to forge a new style of politics to the 1945 Labour administration's work to transform the nation following the Second World War. Mr Burnham said: “We built the common good. Or at least we did until the 1980s. Suddenly, the common wealth we had created for the many was seen as an opportunity for the few.
“Homes. Water. Energy. Transport. Care. Broken up and sold off. The British right talk about 'taking back control'. Never let them forget: they are the ones who gave it away in the first place.”
